Stuff that works, stuff that holds up/The kind of stuff you don't hang on the wall/Stuff that's real, stuff you feel/The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall.

Guy Clark's paean to dependability, "Stuff That Works," almost always makes me take a mental inventory of my own most favoritest things: my wife and helpmeet, one or two friendships, my best pocketknife, and my Linn Sondek LP12. You may laugh at how short the list is or at how skewed my priorities seem, but don't you dare laugh at any of my choices—over the years, time after time, they've proven themselves. They've stood by me; I'll, by God, stand by them.